What are Smart Topics, Prompts, Trigger Prompts, Keywords, and Smart Trackers

Smart Topics are the foundation for how Avoma captures and organizes information from your meetings.

This article explains the key concepts—what they mean, how they work, and when to use each one. It’s for Admins and users who want to understand how Smart Topics behave before configuring or using them.

Use this article as a reference while setting up Smart Topics or reviewing extracted notes.

Smart Topics

Smart Topics define what information Avoma should capture and organize from conversations.

• Avoma includes Default AI Smart Topics that work out of the box.
• Default AI Topics are always available and always listening for relevant signals.
• You can also create Custom Smart Topics for information specific to your business (for example, referral source, competitors, goals, or objections).
• Smart Topics surface extracted content in meeting notes and make it available for trend tracking.

Prompt

Each Smart Topic includes a Prompt that tells Avoma AI what good capture looks like.

• The Prompt describes the type of information Avoma should extract—not just keywords.
• A strong Prompt improves accuracy and consistency in notes.
• You can use Example prompts or Generate prompt with AI to get started.
  
  

Trigger Prompts for Topic Detection

Trigger Prompts are one way Avoma extracts notes for a Smart Topic.

• They are questions or phrases spoken during the call.
• When Avoma detects the trigger (or a close variation), it extracts what’s said immediately before and/or after the prompt.
• This is a voice-of-the-customer, story-driven approach, best for longer explanatory answers.

Key details:

• Reps don’t need to use exact wording—Avoma AI understands intent and phrasing.
• You can add multiple variations to reflect real rep language.
• Trigger Prompts work best for topics like Referral Source, Goals, or Decision Criteria.

Keywords

Keywords are another way Avoma extracts information for a Smart Topic.

• Avoma listens for specific words or phrases you define.
• When a keyword is mentioned, Avoma can extract it into notes and track it.
• Keywords are ideal for short, bulleted, scannable notes.

Common uses:

• Competitor names
• Product names
• Channels (LinkedIn, Google, Partner)

Smart Trackers

Smart Trackers extend keywords by capturing concepts, even when wording varies.

• You define a concept using a short phrase and provide example sentences.
• Avoma uses these examples to recognize similar ideas across conversations.
• Smart Trackers are best for themes like goals, pains, objections, or strategic initiatives.

Once active, Smart Trackers can:

• Extract mentions into notes (if enabled)
• Surface trends in the Trackers dashboard
  
• Retrospectively scan up to 12 months of conversations (license limits apply)
  
  

When should I use each?

• Use Prompt to define what belongs in a Smart Topic.
• Use Trigger Prompts when you want to capture a customer’s response to a specific question.
• Use Keywords when you want clear, standardized terms in notes and reporting.
• Use Smart Trackers when the same idea shows up in many different ways.

What’s next

• Read How to customize Smart Topics with Trigger Prompts, Keywords, and Smart Trackers to set these up.
• Review Default AI Smart Topics and tailor them to your business.
• Align with your team on which questions should be asked consistently on calls.

Recap

Smart Topics control what Avoma captures from your meetings. Prompts define intent, Trigger Prompts capture customer responses, Keywords extract exact mentions, and Smart Trackers detect broader concepts—together enabling consistent notes and meaningful trends.